Malda, Nov. 24: Classes in the new medical college here will begin with the next academic session in July, state health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra has said.

After a daylong meeting with health officials from the six north Bengal districts here yesterday, Mishra said the construction of the new building of the medical college would begin next month.

“The building will be located on the district hospital campus. The 20-odd acres of land on the campus is adequate for us to set up the college here. Earlier, the Medical Council of India had stipulations that medical colleges should come up on a minimum area of 25 acres but the norm has now been relaxed to 20 acres. So we have no problems,” Mishra said.

Initially, the college will have 100 seats and will start functioning from July next year, the health minister said. “There are many buildings, old and new, on the campus of the hospital. Some of them will have to be demolished and some of the quarters will also have to be shifted. A team of engineers from the public works department is scheduled to visit the hospital on December 26 and will conduct a joint survey with the engineers and architects of the firm that will be awarded the job.”

Mishra said the new construction would include classrooms and laboratories as well as hostel for students, teachers and technicians.

A team from the MCI will come for an inspection in January. “We have already appointed Debashis Bhattacharya, currently the deputy superintendent of the SSKM Hospital in Calcutta, the principal of the medical college. He will start functioning from the office of the chief medical officer of health,” Mishra said. The office of the CMOH will be shifted to the TB hospital, lying abandoned now, within a month.

Srikanta Roy, the CMOH, said the building to which his office he would be shifted would also have to be renovated. “We are trying our best to do it within the stipulated time. We have sought funds from the department for the purpose.”